Apropos

I felt like I had abandoned my camera. This evening I decided to play a game. If there was anything–anything at all–in my camera, I would post it.

There was a photo and this is it! From Walgreen's last Monday night. It captures the tone of this week perfectly. How about you? How has your week been?

Monday

Paints & Brushes & Candy

If you happened to e-mail me to inquire about my availability for a $50,000 job last night or this morning, would you please send the e-mail again?

Can you believe I let my domain name expire? For 16 hours, for all practical purposes, I ceased to exist. Not only did my web site disappear, but so did my e-mail address. So if you sent me a message and I didn't respond, please re-send. Even if it wasn't to inquire about a huge commission. Katy, I never heard back how the black & white dog sleeping under the blanket on your porch came to adopt you.

The rain let up today and this evening we hightailed it down to the beach for a long walk. We've basically been shut-ins for the past two days. We did turn off the sump pump last night and drive to the Woody Allen movie. For the first time in our 8 years in San Francisco, we both carried umbrellas.

Not getting out to jog for the past few days–and being shut in with a cupboard full of chocolate and salted almonds–has been too much fun. This evening Tom made a pizza. After dinner, the bag of dark chocolate covered toffee (best in the world) and the bag of roasted, salted almonds suddenly materialized on the table again. I made a pot of coffee, had a few bites of chocolate, then:

Me (pushing the bag of candy away): Tom? Would you please help me NOT to eat any more chocolate?

Tom: No.

Me: Please!

Tom: No.

Me: WHY??

Tom: Because if there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's never to come between you and your food.

Baby, It's (Still) Cold Outside

Tuesday Warm and Cold

Beach Canapé

It's cold. The sun is low and the wind is blowing. You get hungry walking on the beach taking photos. Sometimes you feel you can't take one more step without a little nourishment. Here's what to do:

Look down. Find a leftover end of artisan bread. Add a dollop of tapenade. Pick up a radish round and center it on top of the tapenade. Add a slice of hardboiled egg. Voilá! Chow down and carry on.

Beach Find of the Day

Salzeroni and Lynda.com

We met Lynda.com in person (and her painter husband, too) at her party last night. Doesn't she look just like herself? I unburdened my heart and told her about my great affection for Shane Rebenschied, her Flash 8 tutor. Sadly, she informed me that his illustration career is really taking off and he doesn't have time to do any more teaching.

A Furry Fellow in the Sand

by Emile Dickinson

A furry fellow in the sand
Occasionally runs;
You may have met him,–did you not,
His notice sudden is.

The waves divide as with a comb,
A shiny nose is seen;
And then they dwindle your feet
And slide back out to sea.

He likes an open acre,
A beach or grassy dune.
Yet when a child, and barefoot,
I more than once, at noon,

Have passed a fuzzy tennis ball
Forgotten in the sun,–
When, stooping to secure it,
Someone snatched it on the run.

Several of nature's people
Encountered live and in my head;
I must admit I feel for them
No small amount of dread;

But never met this fellow,
Attended or alone,
Without a sudden wishing
That I had a treat or bone.

One Hour with Salzee

My pal Salwood has been in town this week for Macworld. Today I met her at the Legion of Honor Museum, which is 10 blocks from my house. We had only one hour. Guess how we spent it:

1. Gift shop, trying on scarves and rings
2. Café, eating bread & butter
3. Golf Course, dodging golf balls
4. Marie-Antoinette exhibit, discussing Marie-Antoinette's husband

Beach Find of the Day

This is Jesse. He's had one hip replaced, and the other is missing a ball joint. He's only 8 1/2 years old. Yesterday he was surfing in Mexico; a couple days before, he was on a sled in Tahoe.

My pal Sally G. has been working on a show: all dog drawings. With this in mind, my camera has started pointing itself at dogs.

TGIF

A Nose for Plastic

I love collecting plastic that washes up on the beach after a storm. What do I do with it? All kinds of things. Once I made a quilt. I drilled holes in the plastic (bottle caps, bic lighters, etc.) and sewed the pieces onto a puffy down comforter. It was hung at our group show. Frankly I was astonished that no one seemed remotely interested in buying it to wrap up in on cold winter nights. Susan, have you considered sewing faded old cigarette lighters onto your hats? I can send you a bagful.

My First Architectural Project

If you're wondering how my first architectural project can be so good, it's probably because I'm married to an architect. Everywhere I look I see architectural drawings. I just stepped on one.






















Some will turn up their noses at anything new.

Beach Find of the Day

Beachcombing this evening, I stumbled upon this! (Not made by me.)

Remember

This poster meandered over here from Jen Lemen's blog. It arrived at Jen's via Linzie Hunter at Thumbtack Press.

After the Storm

Looking up.

















Looking down.

Between Storms

This morning Emmy called to tell us that there was a river running between our houses. The paper warned everyone to have at least three days of food and flashlights on hand.

We had a couple of leaks–one in my studio–but all in all, we fared well. Late this afternoon the rain let up and the sky turned pale yellow.

Tom had the car, so I grabbed my camera and ran down the street to the beach. I was too late to catch the pale yellow–the sky changed from second to second. Everyone seemed relieved to be out in the fresh air ... Everyone smiled shyly at everyone else as if we'd successfully engineered some kind of great escape.

I Found Myself on New Year's Eve

I found myself alone on New Year's Eve. Tom was asleep with a cold. But what an evening! I got my little green XO online. I had taken it to Charbucks earlier in the day. Since a year's worth of free T-mobile service comes with it, for some reason I thought that T-mobile would be the only way to connect. (Big clue to how technically oriented I am.) Well, I had no luck at Charbucks. I couldn't figure out where to begin. Later it came to me that I could probably connect via our own AT&T wireless here at home. I realized that the interface is symbolic in a playful way, more than wordsome or codey. Fireworks! I was able to connect immediately–a great way to end the year.
















And THEN ... this morning I decided to try out the ebook mode. I wanted to see if it were true: all this I had been hearing about being able to read it in the jungle in the bright sunlight. I downloaded the first free ebook I could find, and took the XO out in our back yard, which is kind of like a jungle. Soon as I turned off the backlighting, the type turned crisp. (Weird!) I flipped the screen around and flattened it. I set it down in the clover. The sun was shining.
You can also "turn" the book 90 degrees if you want to read in a vertical format. You can make the type bigger or smaller.